Palestine Expressing Self in Song–binder

March 1, 1934

“There is the same variety of folk songs among Jews as there is among other nations,” said Professor Abraham W. Binder in his lecture-recital last night on “Jewish Life in Music” delivered at the Bronx Forum, Temple Adath Israel, 1283 Grand Concourse, Bronx.

Declaring that a new folk song expressive of the spirit of the land, its atmosphere and its people is being evolved in present-day Palestine, he said that “the Palestinian folk song is not the creation of professional composers but of simple peasant folks.” The folk song in Palestine is derived from a threefold source, Jewish liturgical songs, Yemenite songs and the song of the Arab, and “is a lyric interpretation of the Jews’ spiritual nature and longing for his home.”